Chapter 69
Halfway through the drive, I got a call from Robert: "Emily, done with work? William and his family are dropping by. Tell Oscar to wrap up early - let's do a proper family dinner tonight."
I glanced at Oscar in the driver's seat, his face cold and distant, and quickly replied with a smile, "We're actually together right now, on our way home."
"Good, we'll wait for you then. Drive safe and take your time."
After hanging up, Oscar let out a cold snort: "Putting on this happy family act with them every day is more exhausting than my actual work. Why does he call you instead of me?"
I raised an eyebrow at him: "Could it be that your attitude is too distant, and he can sense it?"
Oscar frowned: "We should've just said we were eating out. I'm guessing they want to talk to you about the partnership."
That matched my own guess. Though the Brown Family and the Lopez family were friends, friendship alone wouldn't make him more money.
After several news reports, SoftGlow Biotech had already gained some recognition before even officially entering the market. No one could predict how big it would become, but getting in on the ground floor would obviously have a much better chance of making money later than the Brown Group, which was clearly on shaky ground and practically ruined in reputation.
Even if Gregory might act on impulse, William was definitely clear-headed and had probably been watching and waiting for a while.
"Then let's talk. Using the Novagen Group to help me break into the market isn't a bad idea. After all, it's an established import-export company with many conditions that meet my requirements - pretty much my best option." I looked at Oscar with a smile. "I really have to thank you for this fiancée status, otherwise things wouldn't have gone so smoothly."
Oscar lightly tapped my head: "What am I going to do with you? It's like you have no heart. When we get home, you'd better behave, or I'll mess this up for you."
If he wasn't driving, I would've kicked him: "Yes, my dear fiancé, whatever you say is right."
As soon as the car stopped, the butler came over and opened my door: "Mr. Oscar Lopez, Ms. Wilson, Mr. Robert Lopez, and the others are all inside."
Oscar hummed in acknowledgement, slowed his pace to wait for me to come around from the other side, and naturally extended his hand. Without much hesitation, I placed my hand in his dry, broad palm and let him lead me into the house.
Inside was warm. The family sat around the coffee table - Gregory was handing Robert a peeled orange. Robert took it and ate it in segments. Someone must have said something funny because everyone burst out laughing.
Oscar greeted them with a big smile: "What's so funny? We're not too late, are we?"
Grace quickly stood up, walked over, and guided me to sit in the empty seat next to her, all smiles: "We were just waiting for you two. We were talking about some funny stories from when Gregory was little. Oscar, come sit down. The temperature suddenly dropped today - is it cold outside?"
I shook my head: "Not too bad, not that cold."
Robert smiled at me: "I heard from Gregory that you're interested in partnering with our Novagen Group? Actually, I wanted to bring it up from the start, but I was afraid you had your own plans, so I didn't dare. Now that we're talking about working together, before we make it official, we can sit down and talk it through, get everything out in the open first, so the partnership goes smoothly."
I glanced at Gregory with a smile in my eyes: "At first, I was worried that my new company wouldn't be good enough to approach Mr. William Lopez, so I mentioned it to Gregory."
William spoke with a practiced ease, blowing on his coffee before saying casually, "We're family. Why stand on ceremony? Business is business, but with family, it all stays in-house. Looking out for our own is just what we do."
I didn't argue with him. I understood why he'd put on airs: "You're right. If we can work together, I'll be counting on you."
Gregory spoke quite sincerely: "Don't say that, Ms. Wilson. It's mutually beneficial - no one's doing anyone favors. We've been working with other brands for over ten years now, but honestly, many of them can't keep up with new technology anymore. Some companies really should have been weeded out a long time ago."
William cleared his throat, cutting Gregory off, and looked at me politely: "Besides attending the ribbon-cutting, I don't really understand your company's products and structure yet. I might be a bit busy lately, so I'll leave this to you, Gregory. These next few days, you can go learn more from Ms. Wilson and come back with a detailed report."
Gregory smiled and agreed: "Sure, I'll get on it right away."
Oscar lazily chimed in: "William, you just said we're all family, so why are you doing things by the book? What report do you need? Just ask me. I know a thing or two about my fiancée's company. Besides beauty products, they're currently developing drugs that can delay aging. It was already halfway done in Solstice, and if it launches in Lumaria, it'll definitely take the market by storm."
William didn't seem too convinced: "Well, that's not exactly proprietary - plenty of biotech companies dabble in that. Don't take it personally, Oscar. I'm just following normal procedures. You trust Gregory to handle things, don't you? He's been dealing with most of the company business these past few years, and he's done pretty well."
I tugged lightly on Oscar's sleeve with a playful tone: "Oscar, he's not wrong. Even if we're family, we still need to follow proper procedures. You're busy enough with your own stuff - don't worry about my company."
Oscar looked at Gregory sitting across from him. Gregory quickly put on a polite smile: "Uncle Oscar, don't worry. I do have some understanding of Ms. Wilson's company."
Robert interrupted our conversation: "Actually, I've been thinking about how to explain this to Charles. Most of our share goes to their products. If Emily's coming in, there's bound to be a market squeeze. William, think this through carefully and try not to make things awkward."
Grace smiled as she refilled Robert's half-empty coffee cup: "Dad, it's not that complicated. Just look at the booth rental alone - how much do they already owe us? We're too polite to bring it up, but who's really doing well these days anyway?"
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw William kick Grace under the table - probably didn't want us to know too many details.
Grace continued, "Since it's business, naturally, we work with whoever's suitable. It's not like we signed an irrevocable contract. We can just tell them the company's adjusting its sales strategy and restructuring partnerships."
I picked up my cup and slowly sipped my coffee, barely able to suppress the smile at the corner of my lips behind the cup.
I hoped that when they presented this reasoning, the Brown Family would be just as agreeable.